


All Aboard (the Railroad from Timeline Hell)

by schlatte



Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware, Half-Life
Genre: ...if you ignore the murderous psycho tags that are also present, Angst, Blood and Injury, Character Death, Comfort, Doomed Timelines, Fluff, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, Major Character Injury, Please Don't Kill Me, Swearing, Timelines, am i doing it well, hell i never even finish fics, i dont know what im doing, im serving my duty and serving up some wholesome content like wayne and co wanted more of, my favorite tagS, sorry - Freeform, title may change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-17
Updated: 2020-05-17
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:07:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,079
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24229357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schlatte/pseuds/schlatte
Summary: Gordon feels a foreboding sense of familiarity in his day's event, but something's off which makes it so he can't quite remember... He swears he's met this psychotic guard that doesn't trust him at all before, but the name Benrey doesn't ring a bell. Why does he know that unusual name?...In which Benrey starts fucking with the timeline by acting different, just to see what would happen. Accidentally ruins his friends's lives in this timeline by doing so, but learns so much more about them from putting them in these situations they wouldn't usually tread through. Perhaps Gordon doesn't actually want him bad as much as he always says he does?Alternate title:Benrey does(n't do) a thing
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman
Comments: 16
Kudos: 151





	1. 1 | Deja vu, I've just been in this place before

**Author's Note:**

> Let's be honest for a second. I hope I'm not the first one to say or make this comparison, I'd hate myself forever if I was, but the thing Benrey said about the timelines merging reminded me of how angsty the Undertale fandom portrays Sans and the timelines over there, so I kinda bounced off of that to come up with some angst/comfort for these characters!
> 
> Quick disclaimer: I don't know much about Half-Life 1, nor Half-Life in general. All my knowledge about anything is exclusively from HLVRAI and the first few episodes of Freeman's Mind...! Also keep in mind I'm not copy-pasting the dialogue from the beginning of HLVRAI because that's lazy in my personal opinion (as in, Dr. Coomer's first meeting with Gordon isn't "Another day, another dollar!", it's something else).
> 
> The story summary makes it sound like it's gonna be focused on Benrey/Benrey's POV, but it's actually Gordon's because I wouldn't be able to write Benrey's thoughts in this scenario to save my life. I'll stick warnings at the start of chapters if there's mentions of harsher injury, or of death, since that makes some people uncomfy to read. Aight I'm done blabbing!!

Watching his watch as a guard unlocked a door for him, Gordon had only just realized how late he really was. He throws a wave and a quiet _hey_ to another guard sitting in the small lobby as he passed by, down the hall. He was meant to take part in an important test for an experiment he and the other scientists had been working on for what felt like forever now; hopefully he hadn't taken too long and they hadn't replaced him with someone else already.

Entering the locker room, he comes nearly face to face with another scientist, "Oh, there you are, Freeman! They've been waiting for you down at the lab!"

"Yeah, I figured. I overslept a little, wasn't aware of the time! You must be that Dr. Coomer I've been hearing a lot about lately, right?"

"Indeed! It is nice to finally meet you in person, instead of as a name at the bottom of papers!" Gordon couldn't help but crack a smile at the older man. He oozed with good vibes, and having less than a thirty second conversation with him already brightened up Gordon's foggy start of the day. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he recognized the other's voice. I mean... they _did_ both work in the same area of Black Mesa quite often, it's more than possible he's heard Dr. Coomer's voice before, but he was remembering it with a sense of... comforting reassurance? What does _that_ mean?

He shakes the thought off, and heads for the HEV room off to the side of the lockers. There's a test to be run, and it can't wait on him forever!

-

Walking around a corner, two guards are standing idly by yet another locked door. Gordon thought it strange that there were two standing here, considering how deep into Black Mesa they were. No one without the credentials to be here would even be out this far in the first place, right? Before he can say anything, one of the guards speaks, "Hey, you tryna get in here or somethin?"

Freeman's mind (am i funny yet) pauses at the accusatory voice, as if he _shouldn't_ be here, "I am, actually. I'm here to help run a test, you know... the one that's got _everyone_ spooked with the like 0.001% chance of a resonance cascade spawning from it? That one."

"Alright, sure." the guard gives him a suspicious look, not convinced, "I'm gonna have to see your..." he paused, thinking very hard for a moment. Gordon was afraid he might hurt himself, he could practically see the steam coming out of his ears, "I'm gonna have to see your ID. You know, to make sure you're actually you and not some Ninja Turtle in disguise."

"Are you okay, man?" Gordon couldn't help but question, showing the strange guard his ID anyhow. If it somehow set his turtle fears aside, he supposes he may as well.

"Gordon Freeman..." the guard reads aloud, squinting at the small rectangle of plastic for far longer than necessary, "Alright... I can let you in, but I'm gonna have to follow ya."

"Uh, alright I guess." The door is opened, and sure enough the guard trails a few steps behind him, "What's your name, anyway? I don't think I've seen you around here before. You new?"

"Huh? I'm the opposite of new, I'm o-ho-hollllld." The guard answers, "I'm Benrey."

Gordon's eyes widened a little in recognition of the name. The... _familiar_ name. Benrey isn't a normal name, who the hell would be named Benrey? If you meet someone named Benrey, it's the only damn Benrey you'll ever meet. Why is that name familiar? It brings a foggy mix of emotions to mind in response to it; anger, fear, yet somehow an even more comforting feeling than he got around Dr. Coomer.

Now, with his first in-person interaction with Coomer, he appeared to be a jolly old man using his head smarts for science. He's fit to be Santa Claus (the jolliest of all!), but this Benrey guy? He seemed kinda... off kilter, probably not fully sober, perhaps a little drugged. He's just not right, no one should feel safe around this guy if this is his usual first impression on people. His eyes were... off. What did that mean exactly, though? Hell if Freeman knew.

He decides to shrug it off, blaming the lack of coffee in his system for these delusions. Gordon had never met this guy, he needs to wipe away the thoughts of both strangling him to death but also hugging him to death out of his mind. Right click, delete, empty trash...

-

Gordon was inside the test chamber, awaiting the go-ahead for the final step of the test. There were four people up in the observatory booth, including Dr. Coomer, that weird Benrey guard who luckily stopped following him and didn't step foot in here, and two other scientists he had met briefly before hand, Tommy and Bubby. Tommy's voice sounds over the intercom, "Uh... okay Mr. Freeman! You- You gotta push the cart in slow and steady, like... l-like the bunny and the turtle! Slow and steady wins the race- I-I think!"

"Push the sample in whenever you're read, Gordon!" Dr. Coomer adds.

Gordon hears a faint "Don't screw up!" from Benrey somewhere in the background, barely comprehensible. Great to know this guy had a lotta faith in him.

"Now remember, Gordon... if that shit lights up like a disco, with the tiny, tiny, _tiny_ chance of it blowing up everywhere, we're not opening that door because we want to keep what's in there... _in there_." Bubby unhelpfully adds.

"Gee... thanks you two." Gordon sighs, turning away from them and giving his attention to the room around him again. He wasn't very fond of the crackling green energy he'd have to walk dangerously close to to complete this, but the show must go on.

"I believe in you, Mr. Freeman!" Tommy says as Gordon starts pushing the cart, "S-Slow and steady always uh... always wins!"

Gordon wheeled that thing as carefully as he could, but despite his best effort, the second the green murder beams hit the sample, it set off a very undesirable chain of events.

" _Gordon!_ " Dr. Coomer shouts, "You deserve a speeding ticket! Going half an inch over the speed limit is still speeding!"

He didn't even have time to think about that stupid comment before shit went shittier. The machine itself decided it was a good time to start exploding, so the green death rays had escaped their confines and were now annihilating everything in their path that they happened to hit. One of those things may have perhaps been Gordon Freeman, but Gordon isn't aware of this at all. His vision goes black, and the last thing he's aware of his the loud clunk of his HEV suit as he's thrown against the wall from the force of the not-nice green sunshine.

There was a chorus of worried shouts from the observation booth, but Gordon was already too far gone too hear their worries.


	2. 2 | Higher on the street, and I know it's my time to go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They realize that a cascade has occurred, but they can't go anywhere until Gordon ditches the HEV suit first. Benrey's freaking out and Gordon's getting scared for his mental health.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes the chapter titles are Deja Vu lyrics because i think it's hilarious xddddd
> 
> also?? the first chapter wasn't even up for twelve hours and it had already had like 3 times as much attention as my old Hermitcraft stuff got when i was originally posting that so thank you so much?? and thank you to those of you who left comments! it really brought up my motivation to do this when i saw people actually liked this with what little I had written yesterday!
> 
> i was mad vibin while writing this and then all of a sudden it was over 4k words, so i had to stop.......  
> there was gonna be a bit focused on Benrey and his thoughts at the end, but i'll just make that as some of, or the entirety of, the next chapter instead since this one is LOOONG for a chapter in a fanfic, lmao

His head was pounding and his eyelids felt like lead, too heavy to open. Gordon brought a hand to his face, groaning as he rubbed away what he could only assume was blood, but that didn't quite register in his mind yet, "Mr. Freeman!" Tommy says far too loudly beside him, "Y-Y-You're awake!"

Dr. Coomer was kneeled on one side of him, and Tommy was sitting on the other, "Do you feel alright, Gordon? Things didn't go to... plan."

Gordon opens his eyes, blinking until his vision was clear again (which considering his glasses were in rough shape, wasn't as clear as he wish it would be). He sees Benrey nearby as well, sitting on his helmet a little way down the hall, pulling at his hair and paying them no attention. He payed the guard no attention right back, "What... What the fuck _happened?_ I feel like shit."

"Uhhh..." Tommy's eyes wandered anywhere around the hall except at Gordon, "S-So we may or may _not_ have started-"

"Resonance cascade." Bubby interrupts, turning a corner and heading towards them. Gordon hadn't even realized the other scientist had been missing from this scenario, "We started a... er, _resonance cascade_."

"Yeah! A resident arcade!" Tommy agrees with a big smile on his face as if this wasn't the worst case scenario that had haunted the whole facility in their nightmares the past few months while working up to the test. It literally blew up in their faces.

"Sorry to ruin you guys's threesome," Benrey says, his voice echoing from the hall. It made him sound a bit ominous, "but uhh... I don't know if you've noticed, but that HEV suit is hot garbage fire now. Good for nothin. _Chop suey!_ "

Gordon hadn't quite realized that yet, even though there was blood on the glove of the HEV suit from when he wiped at his face. He had felt numb before, but now that it was brought up, his chest suddenly burned; wincing, he realizes that the HEV suit had broke right in the center of his chest, presumably where he'd been hit from the green killer tentacles of light. It made him feel trapped, and like his lungs were being crushed. For all he knew, they _were_ being crushed; the HEV suit was in the way and his vision was just a tad too blurry to tell.

Dr. Coomer grabs one of Gordon's arms, and Tommy copies in grabbing the other. Together, they help pull the other scientist to his feet. Gravity had never felt so heavy, if you asked Gordon right now, wheezing from the effort of standing up.

Benrey was standing just in front of them now, his helmet back on his head, shadowing out most of his face just as before. When had the guard stood up? He doesn't recall seeing him walk over here, but then again he hadn't even noticed Bubby not being here until he showed up, "...Y-You look a bit shit." He comments with a nervous tremor in his voice.

Why was that phrase familiar? He narrows his eyes at the strange guard, watching Benrey's eyes as they searched him; for what? He didn't know. Gordon didn't have time to think about it though; Tommy started pulling him down the hall, "Come on, Mr. Freeman! We-W-We gotta get you to a uh... to an HEV-taker-offer room!"

"There's _things_ out there." Benrey goes on as if Tommy hadn't spoken, trailing a few steps behind Gordon yet again, but he sounded like his normal self again, "They just might eat your brains, ...not that you have any."

"Benrey, that's not very nice! Mr. Freeman's already hurt, you don't gotta hurt his feelings, too!" Tommy defends.

"Huh? He looks perfectly fine to me."

"God, can we just stop _talking_ constantly? I swear, my head's gonna explode." Gordon complains.

"But Gordon, if we stop talking, how will you know where we are?" Bubby questions.

"I can see all of you, you know. I have _eyes_. You have them, too."

"Ah, yes... r-right..."

"But your glasses, Mr. Freeman! They're broken, just like- just like the glass in that door!" Tommy compares as they go around a corner. Sure enough, the glass in the door was smashed, but what had caused it? "Hey! Who spilled fruit punch flavored Powerade™ all over the floor!?"

"Powerade™?" Dr. Coomer shakes his head, "No no, that's blood! _Human_ blood!" he didn't sound bothered by this.

"Kinda tragic." Benrey comments, "Hey, when you gonna show me your ID, huh? I still don't know who you are. You a Ninja Turtle? You a TF2 Spy class?"

"Can we talk about this when I don't feel like an elephant's stepping on me?"

"Kinky." If Gordon had the energy to right now, he'd have face palmed a face-shaped dent into his head by now. He felt incredibly frustrated and annoyed with this guy even though they hadn't interacted all that much.

Dr. Coomer opens the door, and they enter a room where a few other panicked scientists were, "You're alive? How are you alive?" one of them questions, "Everyone else that close when it exploded died instantaneously!"

"Just luck I guess. That's what Lucky Charms are for, how else you gonna keep up your luck meter?" Dr. Coomer says this as if it were obvious fact.

"Ooh! I like Lucky Charms!" Tommy says, "The cereal isn't that good, but... can I tell you a secret? Uh, I only eat the marshmallows."

Their lucky charm conversation was cut short when the circuits in the wall suddenly exploded, startling everyone except Benrey who had no reaction to it at all. It was almost as if he were standing on the other side of the room _waiting_ for it to explode, "I... don't think that's supposed to happen!" Bubby says, saying what everyone else was already thinking.

"M-Maybe it got scared and it was like... like when you don't wanna be somewhere and you wanna curl up into a ball and disappear, except it was uhh, it was electrical circuits so it exploded instead!"

"I think you're onto something, Tommy!" Dr. Coomer agrees, "I'm going to check in on there, this thing was kinda important!" he climbs through the jagged hole in the wall like it's nothing.

"Hey... if shit got deuced when Idiot Freeman pushed the cart an inch over the speed limit, is that nearest 'HEV-taker-offer' station still working?" Benrey asks the other scientists while simultaneously already wandering down the hall, as if he knew the answer.

"Why, yes. I do believe it's far enough away to still be operable!"

"Ok, bye." ...And then he left the room.

" _Hey!_ I thought he was with us, why would you wander around on your own right now?" Gordon's free hand pinches the bridge of his nose, "Whatever, whatever, I don't care anymore. He's like... someone turned the switch in his brain and he's operating without a single brain cell to show for it."

"I thought he wanted to see your ID?" Bubby points out, "Isn't that what he was asking earlier?"

"I thought so, too. ...Not that it really matters anymore."

Benrey peeks around the corner, "Hey, uh I forgot to say, there's flesh eating monsters down the hall. Just wanted tuh let you know."

"What?" several people questioned at the same time.

"What? Oh look, here comes one now." Benrey motions towards the glass tubes against one of the walls seconds before the light inside them shined brighter, "Ok, see ya later, Feetman and not Feetmans."

Tommy let go of Gordon's arm, running over to the glass like a kid staring at candy behind the counter at a candy store, "Wh-What is that thing? Is it a deformed, naked cat?"

"...A cat?" Gordon shakes his arm out now that it was free, holding the nearest wall with his other as he swayed on his feet slightly. He was starting to feel dizzy, and he could only hope it wasn't from blood loss, because he has no idea how much blood he does or doesn't have.

"Get away from there, it could kill you!" one of the other scientists warns, "That security guard _did_ say they were flesh eating monsters, right?"

"How did he know it would be there before it was even there?" Gordon questions quietly, but everyone's too focused on the creature in the glass tube to think about that question.

Dr. Coomer climbs out of the wall, "I don't know what that is, but I do know that _this_ thing is busted beyond repair right now. It's kinda on fire in there..." the end of his lab coat was a bit singed, and Gordon could only hope this man hadn't just sat in an electrical fire that whole time he was in there. How was he even alive?

Tommy giggles, poking at the glass as the strange creature kept jumping at it, clearly trying to escape, "I think he likes me!"

Gordon lets himself fall to the floor until he's sitting with his back against the wall, his head resting on his curled up legs. His head was swimming, his lungs were on fire, and he just wanted to get this stupid, broken HEV suit off of him. He'd give anything not to pass out right here, "T-Tommy, I don't think that's a good... idea..." he says, voice muffled from hiding his face.

"Gordon?" Bubby questions with a hint of worry in his voice, a hand nearing Gordon's shoulder, but it was short lived.

"It's breaking the glass, move out of the way!" one of the other scientists shouts, Dr. Coomer at the same time lunging forward to grab the back of Tommy's lab coat and pull him backwards just before a sea of sharp glass fell where he had just been.

"Oh my god! Are those _teeth!?_ _"_

Gordon lifted his head; all he could do was watch the other scientists freak out as the tiny, strange creature chased them around and jumped at them. Tommy went back the way they came, and returned a few moments later with a metal chair, "Take _this_ you stupid kitty cat!" a gross squelching sound, followed by a crashing bang, was heard as the chair collided with the stupid kitty cat, as Tommy had called it. A green-ish yellow splat was left on the floor next to the squashed corpse. He felt guilty that he could only sit there while the others panicked.

The panic breezed out of the room and was left with fearful curiosity about the creature. They were scientists after all, and this thing was completely unknown and new to them, "What _is_ that thing...?" Dr. Coomer questions, cautiously tapping it with his foot to make sure it was actually dead. Thankfully it didn't move an inch on its own.

"We need to get Gordon out of this thing, we can worry about that creature later." Bubby interrupts, "I think the HEV's doing the opposite of protecting him right now."

"Is- Is it hurting him?" Tommy questions, wide eyed.

"Hey, I'm perfectly fine." Gordon says, trying to force himself back to his feet, wheezing from the effort. He manages to stand up again, leaning an entire shoulder against the wall this time instead of a hand, but he counted it as a win, "Don't worry bout me."

"Are you sure, Gordon?" Dr. Coomer didn't look very convinced of this. Pieces of the HEV suit, where it had been broken and cracked open, were pointed inwards; sharp pieces of sturdy metal aren't exactly supposed to be stabbing you in the chest.

"I'm sure. Let's just... keep going. We need to keep moving, this place looks like it's falling apart, and we're gonna get trapped if we stay in here just cause I feel a little dizzy." He reasons, "I know I don't really know any of you, but I'd feel terrible if we got trapped down here because of you guys waiting around on me constantly."

Tommy frowns, looking up at the ceiling as if expecting it to come crashing down on them any second now, "Black Mesa is falling apart?"

"I think so."

"We need to hurry up and get that thing off you, then." Coomer concludes. He heads towards the door, the others following him while the other two scientists stayed behind to figure out what that stupid kitty cat was.

"What about Benrey? We can't just leave him here, he was with us, too!!" Tommy worries, helping support Gordon again so he could actually walk (instead of shuffling and swaying like a zombie).

"He said he'd see us later, right? We may run into him again soon." Bubby says, he taking the lead down the hall.

They ran into what they didn't know at the time would be the first of many corpses lying in giant pools of their own blood, "Oh... Oh dear..." Bubby whispers. None of them knew how to react other than staring quietly at what used to be a guard, and they could only hope it wasn't the strange guard they had made acquaintance with.

Tommy, on the other hand, was the opposite of quiet, "Is- Is he _dead!?_ Are those angry cats really killing and eating people!?"

"I'm afraid so."

"I'm too young to die!"

"How old even _are_ you?" Gordon couldn't help but question. Tommy acted a _lot_ younger than he looked.

"Uhh, I'm-" Tommy starts answering, but is cut off by Dr. Coomer.

"We don't have time for this chit chat! We have a mission to complete!" he runs down the hall, "Tally ho!"

"Running isn't a very good idea!" Bubby says, contradicting himself by running after the other scientist.

"O-Oh... uh," Tommy falters, watching the other two completely ditch them, "c-come on Mr. Freeman. We'll catch up to them!"

It was unnervingly silent without those two around, even though Tommy was the most talkative out of those three. Tommy had fallen completely quiet, and the only noise was their footsteps, "Hey, Tommy? Can I ask you something?"

"Uh, yeah! What is it?"

"Sorry if it's kinda weird but... do you ever get deja vu?" he was hoping these strange feelings he had towards these people he was now stuck with was just a strange side effect of being near the testing chamber when the cascade sorta exploded all over them.

"I think so!" Tommy answers, "Why?"

"Do you get it often? Like... right now I'm feeling it. I don't know why, but this scenario is... it's right at the tip of my metaphorical brain tongue, and it feels like a memory, but I can't remember it. It's weird, it's not like normal deja vu."

"But Mr. Freeman! It _can't_ be a memory, we've never met before today!" Tommy reasons, and follows up with, "I wish we had, though! You're really cool, Mr. Freeman! Even if... i-if you've been hurt this whole time and haven't been able to do much."

"I was hoping it was some sorta weird side effect, but if you're not getting the same feeling then I guess I'm just going crazy." Gordon laughs bitterly. He mentally attacked the foggy not-quite memory, and could very vaguely, in "dotted lines" see an image in his mind of he and Tommy somewhere else in Black Mesa. In that moment he could picture the image, it felt so real it _had_ to be a memory, but Tommy was right. They'd never properly met before today; only passed each other in halls, and heard each others voices from nearby.

"I-I think it's just the suit, Mr. Freeman. Bubby said it's hurting you, maybe it's making you feel weird, too!" Tommy offers as an explanation.

Gordon wanted to argue, but he could tell he was starting to make Tommy a bit nervous, so he agreed with a silent nod of his head, and continued walking in silence.

They passed by a few more bloody corpses, and many splatters of blood. Did all of this happen because of those weird "cats"? They had yet to see another one; and why weren't they able to hear shouting from these people when they died, or gun fire of guards who _must_ be combating the threat? It was dead silent, and it wasn't normal. These halls echo, but there was never any noise except for what was right and immediately in front of them in the same room, or just down the hall.

"Isn't this where the HEV thingy is?" Tommy questions, leading them past the break room.

"Y-Yeah..."

Tommy opens the door, and they were greeted with the sight of all three of their missing companions; they were all here waiting for he and Tommy to catch up, "There you are!" Coomer greets, quickly taking Gordon by the shoulder and leading him towards the HEV area.

"Took you slowbos long enough." Benrey huffs, "I've been waiting here for _aaages_."

"Well, we're here now!" Tommy replies.

The other three follow Dr. Coomer and Gordon into the next room. After what felt like years, this stupid HEV suit would finally get off him so they could see what the hell kinda injury he actually has. Coomer leads him straight to one of the empty HEV containers.

"Wait..." Benrey says, and when his quiet interruption wasn't heard, he forcibly pushes his way in front of the button before someone could press it, " _Wait!_ "

"What is the matter, Benrey?" Coomer questions.

"If that fuckin thing is all up and bent inwards, stabbing him and shit, wouldn't uh- wouldn't taking it out just make the wounds worse, or... _tear him apart!?_ " he points out, bearing his teeth, challenging someone to contradict him and press the button anyway, "God, I feel like the only one with a workin brain sometimes."

Gordon hadn't thought of that either. All he cared about right now was making sure there wasn't any lasting damage from this. _Could_ he get torn apart from taking the HEV suit off? "Oh..." Bubby thought about the guard's words for a moment, "You could be right. You might not be, but it's safe to assume none of us want to risk tearing him apart, right?"

"This is a democracy, Bubby! All who vote to press the button, raise your hand!" Dr. Coomer says.

"Are you seriously conducting a vote on if you want to tear me to shreds or not? Ugh..." Gordon didn't have the energy to muster up anymore words to that. Not a single hand was raised, anyway, so he supposed it wasn't a big deal.

"How do we get the HEV off of Mr. Freeman then?" Tommy asks, "It's still hurting him, he can't keep it on either!"

Benrey suddenly looked deep in thought, "Hey..." he says slowly, "why don't the rest of you guys go wait in there for a sec. I need to ask him something real quick." It was probably the most normal sentence any of them had heard the guard say, so they all felt inclined to agree to what he wanted.

"Er, alright." Bubby shrugs, "Do be hasty though, we need to come up with a solution to this problem very soon." He heads back into the locker room, the other two scientists following him out. Benrey watched them over his shoulder for a moment, as if checking if they had actually left or not.

"Okay... why couldn't you ask me with them in-"

" _Shh._ " Benrey shushes, hopping over the control panel and landing on the other side, "Just trust me for a sec, okay?"

"That doesn't sound like a question. Also, saying that doesn't make me especially want to trust you right now, either." Gordon steps out of the HEV suit's container despite his words.

Benrey says nothing in response to that, instead continuing as if Gordon hadn't spoken, "Lie down for a sec. I can get the part that's turnin you into swiss cheese out so that they can press their silly button up there to get the robot thingy to take the rest of it off."

"Uh..." Gordon was very doubtful of this, HEV suits were very strong and resilient. What in the world was he planning? "I swear, if you pull one shady move I'm callin for Tommy to find another metal chair." Even so, he sinks to the floor until he's lying on his back.

The guard sits on his knees beside him, both hands going straight for the sharp pieces of metal that were curved inwards. Gordon tried to, but he wasn't able to stop his reaction at all. He instinctively tries to push Benrey away, hissing at the feeling, "Stop doin that! You're making this a lot harder than it needs to be!" Benrey complains, hitting Gordon's hands until he moved them away again. While they were momentarily gone, he lunged straight for the wound again, and succeeded this time in accomplishing his plan.

Gordon bit down on his tongue to try and muffle the startled shout that he would have made otherwise, the taste of blood quickly filling his mouth, but that was the least of his worries. Hearing the quiet, but distressful, noise from their colleague, the others entered the room again.

"O-Oh my- What the hell did you do to him?" Bubby questions. Benrey had Gordon's blood on his fingers, and seeing Gordon on the ground like that suggested some foul play.

"Oh hey, look, the HEV suit's fixed." Benrey answers, standing up like nothing strange had happened.

"But... But it's an HEV suit, how did it-" Coomer starts, but Benrey interrupts him.

"Huh?"

"The _suit-_ "

"I thought we were gonna get that off him, why are we just standin here?" Benrey interrupts yet again. He offers Gordon a hand to help him stand up, " _Jeeeez_ , it's like you're tryna kill him or somethin."

Gordon takes the guard's hand, and eventually makes it back to his feet, muttering a quiet _thanks_ to Benrey. He decided not to question how Benrey was able to do that, and instead be grateful that it meant he could get this stupid thing off.

Finally, the no good, very bad suit was off, and the real damage could be assessed, "Now Gordon... none of us are _medical_ doctors, so, uh..." Bubby starts saying.

"You're fucked!" Dr. Coomer chimes in.

"No! You're gonna be fine, Mr. Freeman! If you just believe in the- uhh... believe in the power of friendship! A-A-And the power of all our _new_ friendship will save the day. and you'll be okay!" Tommy says, sounding like he fully believed this.

The wound itself, if you ignored the HEV suit, was at least a second-degree burn, from the heat of the mean green beam that had hit him, but then you tally in what the damaged HEV suit added to that, there were several lacerations in his chest that were currently bleeding now that the HEV suit was no longer there to contain the wound within itself. Luckily, all the crushing feeling he had felt with the suit had been because of the smashed suit. There didn't _appear_ to be anything long lasting.

"Hold still, Gordon! We really need to clean that out! You do _not_ want an infection in wounds that deep!" Gordon would never understand how Coomer could say something like that so cheerily, like everything was fine.

Benrey was zoned out, watching them from the doorway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i searched up "red powerade" to see if powerade had flavor names or if it just went by color (for when i was typing Tommy's line about fruit punch flavored powerade) and my mom walked in my room and was like "why are you looking at powerade its disgusting"
> 
> i have no plans for this past this part, so dont expect me to upload another chapter tomorrow fjsdhfjg  
> i'll try to post at least once a week though!
> 
> i'm low key failing online school for my last semester of high school (wooo virtual graduation... this senior year sucks) so i have to pay a lot more attention to that than to this, but in two weeks i dont have to anymore and we gonna be WILIN in this shit wahooooo

**Author's Note:**

> This first one had a bunch of mini time skips, but the rest of the chapters won't be like that! I did that because I don't want to bore people by retyping almost an identical beginning to how HLVRAI began, so I shortened it with time skips instead of breaking my brain at 4am when I was typing this to come up with a full chapter that was coherent.
> 
> It deviates from the HLVRAI plot after this chapter, so it'll be entirely my tired brain and I making up the events, so no more constant time skipping !  
> AKA, the chapters are gonna be longer. I started writing this at 2:30am-ish, and now it's 4:28am, oops. Think of this as an introductory chapter, the first REAL chapter is the next one, and it'll be pogger (i hope).


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